This verse may be understood as a wish (Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Dahood) or as a reference to a past experience (An American Translation, Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible); New Jerusalem Bible takes it as future, “I shall behold you.” In the context of the whole psalm, it seems more likely that it expresses a desire for an immediate experience of God’s self-revelation. This would be in the form of a vision, in which he saw, or wished to see, some manifestation of God’s presence, such as that experienced by Ezekiel (Ezek 1.1, 26-28) and Isaiah (Isa 6.1); see also Exo 24.10-11. The translator, however, should represent the text faithfully, using the common words for “see,” “look at,” “gaze upon,” and so forth.

The sanctuary (“holy place”) is the Temple; Dahood takes it to mean the heavenly sanctuary. In the Temple the psalmist hopes to see a special manifestation of God’s power and glory (see Isa 6.1-5).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .